Monday, April 22, 2013

Next
morning we had another great hotel breakfast and boarded the bus for the
journey to Split.It was a quick hour
and a half drive, much faster than we expected. We were too early to check into
our hotel so we headed directly to the old city where we got a walking tour
through the old town and the streets of the ancient Roman Diocletian's palace.

A group
of us settled into a small restaurant within the palace walls that we had read was
the best in the old city. It had only 4-5 tables and our group took up all of
them.

My grilled sardine lunch.

We all
ordered different items but shared freely across the tables. I ordered a plate
of grilled sardines. My first experience with fresh sardines was in Grenada,
Spain last year and I was determined to have more while here in Croatia. They
were delicious. The flesh was easy to separate from the bones and the meat was
sweet and slightly, pleasantly oily. Others ordered octopus salad, a specialty of this part of the
world, soups, warm, crusty bread and wine flowed all afternoon. Leo, the waiter
and the chef behind the counter were warm, generous hosts and all of us left
very happy. The best food we'd had so far on the trip.

The two directors exchange gifts after the concert.

The bus
whisked us back to the hotel to freshen up and change into concert outfits,
then took us over to the University of Split campus for our evening concert.
We found ourselves on the 5th floor of the library building, a five year old
contemporary structure with little character or personality. However, a very
enthusiastic Music Academy choir met us and after each choir finished singing,
the two groups had an hour or so of time to meet and chat with each other.
Students exchanged e-mail addresses and chatted each other up until our guide
finally insisted we needed to get back to the hotel.

Leslie
walked across the street to the Tommy grocery shop and bought a few things for
an in room picnic. She introduced some of her students to buying meats and
cheeses using the metric system and insisted they buy local cheeses rather than
Swiss or cheddar cheese.

We slept
well through the night after a great first day in Split.

Our second day started off with the instant coffee that seems so popular here. Blech! Otherwise,
a fine breakfast. Then out the door for what became a two and a half hour
walking tour of the old city including a detailed tour through the Palace of
Diocletian.

This
entire old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and deservedly so. It is a
stunning city center, our favorite so far on this trip.

In this
area of Split is located the fish market, another market place where everything

imaginable is sold, wide walking boulevards and narrow alley ways so easy to
get lost in. This town has been here for over 2,000 years, occupied variously
by so many countries including Greeks, Turks and Romans.

The core
of the city is the ancient Diocletian's palace, built around 305 A.D. by the
Roman emperor upon his retirement, a notable moment since most Roman emperors didn't live long enough to retire. It is the most
complete Roman palace in the world.

Within
the walls are a complete temple of Jupiter, vaulted ceilinged, massive rooms,
as well as two even older Greek water wells. The current Cathedral of Saint Domnius
was originally the mausoleum of Emperor Diocletian. Their are several well
preserved gates into the palace, temples, restaurants and shops. It
is just amazing and stunning to behold.

The choir
was able to sing inside of the vaulted ceilinged rooms and at one point thought
they might get to sing inside Saint Domnius. However, due to some rule about
choirs singing in churches during holy week (Easter is in 2 day's time) they
were not allowed to. Interestingly, while our group was in the square outside
Saint Domnius, the friars who were using the church came out as the choir was
singing for the crowd in the square. Among the group was the Archbishop of
Split, who paused long enough to be introduced to Leslie and listen to the
choir sing for him. He said a few words about his travels in America and then
stood smiling as the choir offered a Croatian arranged song from a mass. He was
delighted.

We also
visited the Jewish Synagogue and the oldest book shop in Split. Then, finally,
we were all set free. Everyone had ideas about where they wanted go and what they
wanted to do. Vanessa, Leslie and I stuck together and headed over to the
church in which she'd originally hoped to sing--Saint Francis, operated by the
Franciscan order. Like really every church we've been in here in Croatia, the
interior was very modestly decorated. Little glitz or guild, it had a simple
alter piece and very little ornamentation.

A few
steps away and we re-entered the large, open and sunny piazza where our walking
tour ended the day before. We'd decided to lunch at the well regarded
restaurant there. They had a large al fresco dining area. We chose a spot on
the edge of the sitting area, up wind so as to avoid the smokers.

Smoking
is a big pastime here. I would estimate that a good 70-80 % of adults are
smokers. Smoking is allowed in the bars and coffee bars and even goes on in
many restaurants, though it is officially banned. It is just about unavoidable
and no one seems to be in the least concerned about smoking around anyone,
anytime. Leslie went out with a number of the choir members in Zadar the other
night and they all lit up and smoked the evening away oblivious to the
non-smokers they were hosting. This country just hasn't got the memo yet
regarding the negatives of the habit.Ah
well, when in Rome!No, don't do as the Romans
in this case, but if one is going to travel, one is bound to run into
situations different from home. Get over it or stay home.

Meanwhile,
our lunch was wonderful. We each ordered items and shared freely. We ordered
a cheese and fruit plate as an appetizer.We ordered a couple of different local wines and I ordered a poached sea
bass on a bed of polenta. Leslie and Vanessa ordered a beef risotto and, of course, an
octopus salad. It was all terrific and to sit in the sunny piazza with a soft
cooling Mediterranean breeze just made the moment perfect.

After
lunch I decided to walk back to the room to write while Leslie and Vanessa
power walked up the hill and through Park suma Marjan, a massive park and green
space covering a mountain on the peninsula at the end of the city. Then they headed over to
the museum of Croatia's most famous sculpture, Ivana Mestrovica, and finally
through the market place.

Later in
the evening we picnicked in our room again. This time Vanessa joined us in a
combined feast of sliced sausage, cheese, olives, beets and slaw, a dessert of
dark chocolate all washed down with a pretty good cuvee Benkovac, a combination
of cabernet, merlot and syrah grapes.We
shared photos and talked about all kinds of things until about 11:00.

It was a
great finish to our time in Split. Tomorrow we head to our final destination,
Dubrovnik. On our way we will stop for lunch while driving through part of our
third new country, Bosnia Herzegovina. Only two days left before we head home.